I am sure they keep calling - I have even experienced this myself. We had a charge improperly applied to an account for merchandise we never received, disputed the charge, and had it removed. Then some months later we got a call from some collection agency (in Texas) trying to get us to pay. At which point I told him that I didn’t intend to pay anything, and didn’t care in the least about anything he cared to say on the matter. And ended the conversation with “Put it in writing, and don’t call again.” Click.
But he talked directly to us, not by leaving messages on the answering machine. Which is my point.
I know, off the top of my head, what matters of “urgent business” I have pending at any given point. And I also know with whom those matters are pending. But none of the people or organizations with which I do business are at all shy about identifying themselves, and especially telling me what the “urgent business” is and why it is indeed urgent. When we bought our house, the realtor could call and leave a message and be treated as urgent. But I knew who the realtor is. When my mother-in-law was ill, the doctor could call us up and we would return any messages immediately. But the office always said, “This is so-and-so from Dr. Smth’s office, and it is concerning Mrs. Mom-in-Law - we need you to do thus-and-so.”
A message from a stranger, telling me something is “urgent business” but not identifying what the “business” is or giving any reason why I should believe it to be urgent - that sets off my bullshit detector. It is like seeing the word “AMAZING!” or “Rolex” in an e-mail title. It means this is almost certainly a sales call, or a scam. As, indeed, this turned out to be.
So I would not return the call. This would screen out the more lazy of the scammers, who are casting their net wide to try to find people who are easily panicked, and who would return such a call. If the person is diligent enough to actually get me on the line, then he can explain himself and why I should care. If it were a real debt, fine - I would send the money with my apologies. If not, then tell him that you don’t intend to pay debts you don’t owe. If he persists, do the “put it into a registered letter, and don’t call me again” routine and hang up.
You don’t ordinarily have to talk to anyone on the phone, and it is not necessary to worry about the feelings of someone who is trying to rip you off.
Collection agencies operate on a percentage basis. They buy up debts at a discount, and then try to collect enough of the debt to make a profit. Therefore it makes sense for them to concentrate on the more easily collectable debts, and disregard the ones where it is clear that they will never get any money. If you genuinely don’t owe the money, make it clear that you will never pay.
Therefore, no matter what, the only response you should ever make, no matter what they say, is to repeat “put it in a registered letter, and don’t call me again”. Then hang up without waiting for a response. Usually, eventually, they get the idea. Then either they put it into a registered letter, to which you respond saying that you don’t acknowledge the debt, or they go away and try to scam the next sucker.
It’s annoying, I certainly grant you that. But any time you respond, you are teaching the harasser that the cost of getting you to respond is a certain level of harassment. If he calls six times and you respond on the sixth call, you are teaching him that it takes six calls to get to you. If he calls six times and never gets any response except the same response he got on the first call, you are teaching him that all the calls after the first were a waste of his time.
Telemarketers, scammers, and other lumps of curdled vulture vomit are not highly evolved life forms. They need to be trained using basic principles of reinforcement. Respond to something, and you reinforce the behavior. Don’t respond, and you extinguish it.
Again, best wishes to WaryEri on her upcoming wedding.
Regards,
Shodan
Some people’s Mondays are worse than others.